Early morning about 1am.† Computer froze up on me so I had to stop on blog, and yes Iím a night owl.† One last trip to barn to check on cows before bed.† All the cows where content. Emphasis on All, because a gate was open that wasnít suppose to be.† They were all lying down and the calves were in the nursery. So I decide to shut the gate to the pasture, so no one would calve out in pasture lot.† Then wait till daylight to sort them with some help.† Dave and I work well together, most of the time!† Girls got up, Katie was ready and Karen was sick. Karen stayed home and slept till noon waking long enough too eat lunch and throw it up before going back to bed. Dave helped me sort the cows before, loading the last of the corn to be hauled.† Then had a few loads of gravel to haul.† I mixed feed and fed cows, horses and everyone else. Checked on cows throutghout the day, nothing going on.† Finished my blog.† Then picked up Justin and headed to Oxford, Grandma B picked up Katie from track.†† Karen was still in bed and her FFA strawberries where to be picked up.† So Katie and Grandma picked them up for us.† Katie and I finished the feeding before going to a parent meeting for track at 7:30. Back home baths, homework, and checked on cows.

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Up early and raining, checked on cows.† Cow #WD had calved, black heifer.† Cow #2 was in labor. Moved both cows to pens. Dave took both girls to school, yes Karen was well, and I took Justin to school and stopped by post office. Back home mixed feed in rain and fed.† Calving pens are a mess so I bedded them. Dave and Jeff worked on red ford replacing brakes.† I had laundry to do; Dave and kids are leaving this weekend for the Ohio Beef Expo, in Columbus.† The weather is supposed to be warm and nice. But coveralls still need to be washed and packed just in case. Cow #2 calved a black bull calf, around noontime with no problems.† Went to laundry mat in Trenton to wash bedspreads. Returned home about 2:30... rain stopped. Checked on cows and new babies. Picked up Justin from school.† Back home, put dinner in oven and went after Katie.† Took Justin and Katie to speed training.† Then back home to do work.

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Cloudy morning, out to check cows. No babies. Kids off to school and the sun is out. Dave went to haul two loads of gravel.† Heís hoping to get back fast to work on truck that needs brakes.† Mixed feed and fed all animals.†† Cows #263, WD and 2 need to go out.† The cows and calves need to be on the move so I donít like to keep them penned too long.† When the calves are out and move, they drink more and this keeps the mothers udders in better shape.† Around 11am I ran all the calved cows off feeding floor and then turned new cows with babies out to eat some mixed feed as I tagged and banned their calves.† Put bedding out for calved cows.† Spent the afternoon working on bookwork and laundry.† Before leaving to get Katie, I turned the new cows with babies out to pasture so the other cows could come in to eat. Katie has a doctorís appointment at 4pm in Fairfield. Justin is staying over with his math teacher. Karen is at home working with her cattle, getting them ready for the weekend. Katie and I returned home to find a replacement heifer in the lane.† We stopped the car and put her back into her pen.... But not until she was ready to go back.† We also met Karen walking her steer.† She tries to walk him ever night, they travel to Aunt Anneís house and back, only once if heís good but if not then a couple of passes to the round bales and back. We all worked on getting feeding done.† As Dave is still under the truck and quite dirty.† Dirt is easy to get out of clothes; grease on the other hand is a little harder. Good thing we have hot water and tide. Had dinner, homework and baths. One last trip to cows then bed.

Thursday, March 17, 2011

Sunís out and itís warming up.† Today is going to be a prefect day to have a baby.† So all of you Momma cows get busy!† I can only dream!† Kids off to school. Mixed feed and fed everything. Horned Jeri is restless, starting labor. Dave hauled gravel and needs to go after parts for brake job. Penned H Jeri and went to meet Dave for lunch.† I wanted to get the pickup swept out before they left this weekend.† Came home, checked on H Jeri, water bag was out, went back to house and waited about 30 minutes, then back out.† Feet were out, BUT they were very large and upside down!!!!!! This is not good.† Called Dave to check were he was. As luck would have it he was in our lane coming home.†† Also called Grandma to get Justin home from school since I didnít know how long the pull would take. Calves coming† back feet first normally donít make it and if they do, they end up being slow. But sheí hasnít been in labor long so Iím hoping itíll be all right.† Timing is everything on these births.† Once you start to pull you canít stop it all has to work right. If the back feet are coming first, the hips canít get hung (sometimes a problem) and when the umbilical cord is broken you have to get the calfís head out so it can breathe.† If this doesnít happen just right, you end up with a calf drowning. Today was a lucky day. The pull was a success and the baby was up and nursing on itís own by 5pm.† A little slow but not bad.† Grandma ended up getting all the kids from school; Karen from FFA, Katie from track and Justin. Vet came over to work on Karenís steer and give dogís yearly shots.† Also checked on new baby. With everything that happened, I moved Katie and Justinís speed training back to 6:15 pm. Karen and Dave did evening feeding and when we returned home Dave was working on truck. I checked on baby, mother and other cows.† Karen was packing trailer for weekend.† Inside all the kids had worked on packing suitcases. Back outside the Barkers' came with there calves, they travel with Dave and kids to the shows. Dave Barker helped my Dave pack a few bearings with grease as my Dave was trying to get the brakes done. Crazy busy day!

Friday, March 18, 2011

Checked cows and back in to get girls up. Dave took girls to bus.† Finished packing Dave and Justin clothes, and repacked Katieís.† I think she thought she was going to the beach. LOL (Not Funny). Wonít she be surprise? Her clothes are going with Dad. Iím picking up Katie and Karen from school.† Then theyíre riding with Heather to Columbus.† Fed all the penned animals and checked on cows, they still have feed in troughs.† I helped Dave and Justin get ready to leave. They left about 10 am. I mixed feed and finished feeding cows, replacement heifers and bull.† Put two cows in maternity pen.† Worked with Katieís 4-H steer before going inside, he needed a little TLC.† By now it was raining so I called mom and met her for a late lunch. Back home checked on cows, cleaned house and feed night feeding.†† Dave called with results from Karenís showmanship class, she placed 6th. Way to go Karen, sheís up against the best in Ohio.† No babies today.

Saturday, March 19, 2011

Early morning checked on cows.† Mixed feed for cows then fed all others. Sunís up and warm. Turned out Horned Jeri and new baby. Iím going to scrape the feeding floors with the skid loader. The cows are so dirty with all the rain and manure. I locked the cows out in pasture lots. Iíll feed them from a hayrack out the back of the bank barn; Iíll throw square bales of hay into it. This keeps the girls happy until they can go back onto floor.† Finished cleaning, called Mom to help open gates to bedding in maternity pen. Canít mess up my gates. Dave and Justin fixed them this week.† We finished the work and ordered pizza. Dave called throughout the day with results from the Expo. Butler County Kids did great.† First results were from the judging contest.†† Karen had 13th overall and her team placed 3rd, Katie had placed 84th in seniors, but should have been in the Jr. division and would of placed 2nd overall.† Iím still proud of both of them.† Karen then had showmanship again and she placed 10th today.† Checked cows and put away clean clothes before bed.

Sunday, March 20, 2011

Sunday morning checked on cows. Cloudy day and temp is warming up, looks as if weíre going to have a nice day.† Spring must be here, the pastures are turning green. Mixed feed and fed the animals.† Turned out horses, Stitch and Anne ran and rolled like new babies.† Called Dave to check show results and Karen just went into show ring.† Stayed on line till she was placed 5th out of 12.† The rest of afternoon was spent working on blog and doing laundry. Brought horses back in and did evening feeding. Put cow #12 in maternity pen. Then walked the pasture lot to check on babies. Its 9pm, Dave and kids are just pulling in..... wow, what a day.† Talked about events of this weekend. Checked cows before bed.